The Sun Also Rises schedule (and more)
Greetings Close Readers,
We are deep into July and we’ve hit that point here in North Carolina where Rilke comes to mind. It’s hot (and stormy nearly every day) and as much as I love to braise or grill a hunk of meat, what I really want is a chilled glass of Sancerre or Beaujolais; a salad with shrimp, toasted chickpeas, and fresh tomatoes; alongside a baguette with butter; followed by fresh peaches and Tillamook vanilla ice cream. Actually, hold on, I gotta go eat something.
The point is, we might as well read a book about disaffected Americans looking for peace in 1920s Europe. Maybe one by this guy:
Who is also this guy:
Which reminds me: Look up Ernest Hemingway on your search engine of choice and you’ll have a fun half hour. Very photogenic fellow.
The Sun Also Rises is a book a lot of people dislike, but that Tim and I love. I think Heidi likes it, too. Either way, we’re going to have a great time hashing out what makes Hemingway successful, famous, and meaningful—and along the way we’ll try to speak to the people who have a hard time with his work, too.
But you’ll be wanting the schedule. That’s why you’re here. So here it is:
Episode 1 (Aug 5): Chapters 1-7
Episode 2 (Aug 12): Chapters 8-12
Episode 3 (Aug 19): Chapters 13-16
Episode 4 (Aug 26): To the end
Episode 5 (Sep 2) : Q&A episode
Hope you’ll tune in!
Summer Reading
What’s your summer reading been like? I’ve been wallowing in a delightful western classic by Elmer Kelton called The Time It Never Rained. Kelton was named The Greatest Western of All Time by the Western Writers of America, and this book is worth a read during this strange season. It’s about hard times, times when normalcy seems distant as far-off mountains, and it’s about persistence, neighborliness, and, well, dirt. There’s a lot of dirt. You should read it. Grab a copy from Bookshop and support Close Reads while you’re at it.
I love this old cover:
I asked Heidi and Tim about their summer reading, too. Tim said he was too swamped to get back to me in time, which sounds like a truly awful predicament when it’s hot outside, but I assume a bunch of his summer reading has to do with Coriolanus and The Merchant of Venice, the two plays featured on The Play’s the Thing this summer. Hope you’re listening.
Meanwhile, this was Heidi’s answer:
Wendell Berry is my go-to summer reread. I read his poetry pretty much every summer when life’s pace is slower and I am always outside because it reminds me that a wholesome, simple life is beautiful and transcendent. And his essays too, which offer a vision for an ordinary life well-lived. His ideas are like a familiar soundtrack for my summer routine of gardening, cooking, and rambling outside.
That’s all really good. I like Berry in the summer, too. But when she refers to “rambling outside” do you think she means walking a lot or talking a lot about various things without stopping, like what I do when I am giving someone on the show a chance to think about a question?
So, anyway, what have you been reading this summer? There’s still time to adopt one of our suggested strategies.
Before I go I want to share a few really interesting pieces about The Sun Also Rises. Thought you might like to peruse these:
“The True Story of the Booze, Bullfights, and Brawls That Inspired Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises,” | Vanity Fair, 2016
Why ‘The Sun Also Rises’ Is an Oddly Comforting Read Right Now | WSJ, May 2020
“The 100 best novels: No 53 – The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway” | The Guardian, 2014
With that, I’ll sign off. Talk to you next week on the show. In the meantime, happy reading.
—David